The role of technical expertise in policy implementation: Forestry management in northern Spain

Lay Knowledge and Public Participation in Technological and Environmental Policy

“…The transformation of a rural economy based on cattle raising and multipurpose mixed wood forests, already in progress due to factors such as industrialization, the migration of the rural population, and the agricultural policy of the European Community, was merely accelerated by the introduction of eucalyptus to northern Spain. (On economic and ecological impacts of eucalypts, see, e.g., FAO, 1981;González Bernáldez et al, 1989;Greenpeace, 1991;and Poore et al, 1987. For details concerning the case study, see González García, 1993;González García and López Cerezo, 1994;López Cerezo, 1993;andLópez Cerezo andGonzález García, 1993a and1993b. ) Eucalyptus forestation in this area has recently produced a strong social controversy.…”

“…No public participation and no interest groups except that of politicians, private industry (in the shadows), and the experts themselves have been involved in the technocratic policy process. And the technical assessment carried out by these experts, far from sufficient in determining the most adequate political measures, has been mostly a political smokescreen used to transform a social problem into a supposedly technical issue (López Cerezo and González García, 1993a). Moreover, the technicization of the eucalyptus problem, excluding public hearings and participation, has produced an inadequate reduction of the problem's complexity; and this, in turn, has resulted in unforeseen consequences of a cultural, environmental, social, and even political kind.…”

La gobernanza de la seguridad alimentaria

“…La introducción de procesos de gobernanza también tiene consecuencias para el papel del conocimiento científico especializado en la toma de decisiones (López Cerezo & González, 1993). Los anteriores procesos de regulación de la ciencia y la tecnología basaban sus decisiones generalmente en expertos, así como en una ciencia adaptada a la toma de decisiones reguladoras (la ciencia reguladora: López Cerezo & Lujan & Echeverría, 2004).…”